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Collide
Two Headed Monster

Noiseplus Music

Posted: Thursday, November 13, 2008
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

Collide have certainly come far since their inception, and credit should be granted to this dynamic duo for doing it on their own terms, having released all of their music via their own Noiseplus label. While they have hardly kept quiet since their last album of new material, 2003's Some Kind of Strange, releasing a remix album, a live CD/DVD, a re-release of Distort, and their collaboration with Curve's Dead Garcia in The Secret Meeting, their latest album, Two Headed Monster presents Collide fans with more of what they know and love: scathing electronic and guitar textures, dark atmospheres, and mystifying vocals and melodies. Never ones to stray from balancing beauty and aggression, Two Headed Monster may be perhaps the band's most rock-oriented work.

Beginning with "Tongue Tied & Twisted," we are immediately treated to the Collide formula as layers of Statik's distorted synth scrapes mesh with the drums of Tool's Danny Carey, which slightly resemble The Downward Spiral-era Nine Inch Nails, while kaRIN's voice reverberates as beautifully as ever, her cadence during the chorus recalling elements of Maynard James Keenan (think "Ænima"). "Chaotic" and "A Little Too Much" then chime in, the former track with a raucous beat evocative of mid '90s noise-rock like Medicine, while both songs are chockfull of gritty guitars and ambient melodies that immediately put one in the mind of Curve, although that could also be due to the presence of Dean Garcia on the bass. Collide have often been likened to Curve, but never has the comparison been quite as evident as on these two tracks, and it's hardly a detriment. Try listening to the bopping rhythm and catchy melodies of "Head Spin" and not imagine go-go dancers and psychedelic light shows. "Pure Bliss" brings us back into Collide's more familiar territory as a somber piano and fluid guitar sustain create a dark mood offset by kaRIN's lush vocals before blissfully erupting into an energetic chorus. The same can be said of the title track, which bears the distinction of being the shortest song on the album. One of the more impressively off-kilter tracks on Two Headed Monster comes in the form of "Silently Creeping;" beginning with a somewhat jazzy rhythm, analog synth tones that recall the cinematic soundtracks of the late '70s and early '80s, and tried and true tremolo guitar dives, the song takes an abrupt and discordant turn in the chorus. Though hardly the most linear progression, it is perhaps one of the most musically adventurous tracks the band has yet composed. The album closes out with "Utopia," yet another classic Collide track with their expert mix of lush ambience and grating synth and guitar textures, all carried by kaRIN's emotive voice.

Aided by live members Scott Landes, Rogerio deSilva, Chaz Pease, and Kai Kurosawa, kaRIN and Statik prove with Two Headed Monster that a band can indeed carry their sound into new directions while retaining those elements that defined them in the first place. Still balancing the guitars with the electronics and with no shortage of live drums, the emphasis on the organic qualities of the band's music seem much more prevalent on this album, but there are still plenty of those noisy synthesizers that fans love. Besides that, kaRIN's vocals and melodies are as sharp as ever, enticing and mysterious, and always adding the right amount of soothe to Statik's noisy musical seethe. Two Headed Monster is not a dramatic departure for Collide, but it could do well to not only please longtime fans but also gain them a few new ones along the way.